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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 03/03
Multiethnic State, Ethnically Homogenous State and the Future of the Nation-State in the Balkans
Plamen Pantev
February 2003
Abstract
Approaching and testing the capacity and effectiveness of the nation-states in the Balkans is a long-term research necessity for many reasons: First, despite the tendency of making the state boundaries less and less significant in the era of new information technology, global economy and new communications capabilities the nation-state will remain the key organisational unit of the international system and the features of national sovereignty will continue to dominate and influence the management toolbox of international relations and domestic politics. Hence, any form and nuance of the nation-state in the Balkans will have a decisive meaning for dealing with the political and security agenda of the region. Second, the wars on the territory of former Yugoslavia in the last decade had various reasons — confessional (between the Serbs and the Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina); ethno-religious (between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo), and ethnic (between Serbs and Croats and between Serbs and Slovenes). The influence of such factors of conflict as Islamic and Orthodox Christian extremisms, traditional animosities among Balkan people for historic reasons, separatism and exploiting the war situations for criminal purposes significantly added to the complexity of the causes for the wars in the western Balkans. The mixture of ethnic, cultural, confessional, historic and other causes for war in that region necessitate the answer of the question: Can the state structures of the countries of the Balkans withstand further pressures of the same kind?
Third, different great powers’ geopolitical interests clash in the Balkans since the end of the Cold War — to the greatest displeasure of the Balkan people, sensing new efforts of fragmenting the Balkans from the outside. Generally the dividing line between the great powers is the West/Russia, though we witnessed disparities among the Western powers at the beginning of the 90s when the new sovereign post-Yugoslav republics were recognised internationally and on the eve of the failure of the diplomatic efforts in Rambouillet. Logically, the question is: Shall the Balkan states keep strong enough and discard the efforts of nourishing polarisation on ethnic, religious and civilisation grounds among the Balkan people? Is the option of integrating the Balkan states in the EU, and those who wish — in NATO too, a powerful pole of gravity for the individual Balkan states?
Fourth, many countries in the region undergo a transition from authoritarian and totalitarian political as well as centrally-planned economic systems to democratic and market economic system. A unique historic situation appeared for the first time in the last fifty years: all Balkan states are homogeneous from the perspective of their political, constitutional and political programmes, striving for more mature democratic systems and economic organisations. Will the Balkan states be able to utilise this opportunity of coming to terms with their neighbours and concentrate on domestic economic and social issues?
Fifth, will the states of South-East Europe pass the test of qualifying for EU membership, joining an advanced socially, politically, technologically and economically family of European states? Will they have the needed state capacity to interact as equals within the Union?
Giving a clear and practical answer to the question what options the individual Balkan states will choose — a multiethnic or an ethnically homogeneous state, will help us in responding to these four issues of highest political interest.
